CCC ready to fight flood waters

With streams and rivers across the county rising from the string of storms hitting the area, Yreka’s crew of California Conservation Corps (CCC) members were busy Friday training to respond to flood-related disasters.

With streams and rivers across the county rising from the string of storms hitting the area, Yreka’s crew of California Conservation Corps (CCC) members were busy Friday training to respond to flood-related disasters.

While no major flooding had been reported yet in Siskiyou County from this most recent round of heavy rains, CCC crews go through this training process each year in order to build the skills necessary as one of the state’s most important disaster relief resources.

Yreka crew manager Tina Daray said each year her crew of 14 corpsmembers – along with CCC crews across the state – must complete a 16-hour flood protection training course that combines a classroom component and a hands-on component.

The Yreka crew had already completed their classroom session on Thursday, and Friday afternoon’s hands-on session at the Yreka city facility on the north end of town had members furiously filling and stacking sandbags. Though nearby Yreka Creek hadn’t breached its banks, observers may have thought otherwise as a chain of young people shoveled fine gravel into sandbags, passed them down a line of ready hands, and stacked them neatly on pallets as if the safety of the community depended on it.

In fact, the sandbags being filled Friday were stacked next to a large plywood sign that read “Sandbags: Yreka residents only.” The filled bags and the work necessary to fill them were donated to the residents of Yreka for use in protecting personal property from the rain water filling storm drains and creeks and pooling in low-lying areas of the city. Those without the means or ability to fill bags on their own were able to simply stop by and ask for them.

Daray said since the CCC was first formed in 1976, members have filled 3.5 million sandbags in their flood protection and response efforts.

“We’re the front line of flood fighters. We’re the first line of responders called in by DWR (California Department of Water Resources),” said Daray.

CCC crews are also called in by emergency response agencies for earthquake, fire and other natural disaster response efforts across the state. In addition crews spend large portions of the summer months maintaining public hiking trails and working on post-fire mitigation efforts on public lands.

“We’ve got a two-fold mandate,” said Daray. “Our purpose is to produce productive citizens and to protect and enhance California’s natural environment.”

She said the CCC is essentially a youth development program and is open to applicants ages 18-25 who will serve a one-year term.

Page 2 of 2 - In addition to the standard CCC program, the corps also has a wide array of special programs, including green energy, trails, watershed stewardship, and several Americorps programs with varying eligibility requirements.

For more information about the California Conservation Corps, visit ccc.ca.gov.